Coffee Not at Mealtime on the Jewel?

My wife and I are coffe drinkers and enjoyed the Princess coffee card on our cruise two years ago. You could get unlimited fresh ground coffee of different varieties all day. I nuderstand NCL has a card for the expressos, etc. What is the story on the coffe availability? Is it any good? Is it the syrup stuff or fresh gound anywhere? Can I pick up a cup anytime of the day (like Blue Lagoon?) as this is Freestyle? Looking forward to answers.

They have coffee everywhere and you can get regular drip coffee at anytime. The coffee they charge for are specialty coffee i.e. Espresso, Lattes, or Coffee freshly brewed from Lavazzaa machines. Otherwise, they have brewed coffee in pots or coffee machines and they serve it throughout the boat.

My wife and I are coffe drinkers and enjoyed the Princess coffee card on our cruise two years ago. You could get unlimited fresh ground coffee of different varieties all day. I nuderstand NCL has a card for the expressos, etc. What is the story on the coffe availability? Is it any good? Is it the syrup stuff or fresh gound anywhere? Can I pick up a cup anytime of the day (like Blue Lagoon?) as this is Freestyle? Looking forward to answers.

You can get coffee anywhere and in every restaurant. Just ask.

The coffee card was $29 for 10 cappucinnos/lattes, med or small only. If you drink only those coffees in the med size the card saved you about $1. If you drink small sizes you lost money.

I passed on the card and gladly paid $3.75 for a large Caramel Macchiato that was always very hot and delicious.

We had coffee in Cagneys, the buffet and every restaurant we went to (including Blue Lagoon). Cagneys and the Java Cafe were our main choice as the rest of the coffee was just OK.

By the way, the coffee card didn't include the cold coffee drinks, only the hot.

Have a great time.

I always buy a thermal cup in the gift shop on the first night and fill it as needed from the buffet area throughout the day.

The coffee card was $29 for 10 cappucinnos/lattes, med or small only. If you drink only those coffees in the med size the card saved you about $1. If you drink small sizes you lost money.

LOL....that's my kind of deal! Lately I've noticed more and more times at the supermarket that the largest quantities are often not the best deal. The sweet spot is often in the mid-sized quantity. I think they figure the people just assume they're getting a deal on the large size, and don't really pay attention to the unit cost. So they sell more product, and at a premium. Win-win for the supermarket/manufacturer!

The coffee card includes the gratuity so you save about $5 for 10 medium cappuccinos. At first, we thought it was only $1 but asked and found out the gratuity was included.

Susan

I am an early riser, so I either order coffee from room service the night before or go up to the early buffet (by the pool on the Jewel) and grab a cup of coffee (in my thermal mug that I bring along) to bring back & enjoy on our balcony.

On the Dawn this past summer coffee was always available in the Blue Lagoon and the buffet areas. It was ground not concentrate.

Thanks to all. Now if I could only get an answer to my beer question that has been bumped to the second page. :(

I have been on the Star and the Epic. The cappuchinos and lattes were very good. I must say I hated the coffee. The coffee was like my wife, strong and bitter.

If you are in a suite, the coffee for breakfast and lunch is french press lavazza.

Al

DH and I are also coffee drinkers. Last year on the Spirit, we brought our favorite ground coffee and some small filters and we brewed our own fresh pot at least 3 times a day in our room. We are cruising on the Gem in April and we are looking forward to doing the same thing...

The strange thing about the coffee--in my opinion--is that it does not seem to be of equal quality at all places on the ship.

Consistently I have found (3 different NCL ships) that the room service coffee int he morning is far better than any other coffee any other place. I mean that is just really good coffee. Can't imagine the need to grind my own or bring my own or whatever. Even when we were in the suite and had the lavazarro (?) which made great expresso--I still ordered the room service coffee.

Then at the breakfast buffet--one machine was clearly MUCH better than the other. Go figure.

And in the restaurants it was hit or miss--but never as good as the room service OR the good coffee at the buffet.

So my advice is to go about the ship and have some tastes--figure out where it is the best. Maybe it is psychological--at the outdoor buffet with the beautiful ocean there it just tastes better, OR room service FIRST SIP of the day just seems to taste the best. LOL Us coffee lovers!!

But this I know--on NCL they DO NOT use that syrup or liquid stuff. It is ground coffee. Now some of it may be bad ground coffee (any is bad that sits around for too long), but it is at least ground coffee.

Confession--this is really bad--one time I ordered pot of coffee from room service before going to restaurant for breakfast. Carried my pot of good coffee up with me because I had discovered that the restaurant had bad coffee. Hey--they just laughed.

@raventhebouv -

We, actually I, do the same thing. While DW is still in bed, I go up to the buffet with two medium-size McDonald's cups to get fresh coffee. Sometimes I am even lucky to find a fresh cookie. We have considered the steel cups but find them too heavy and bulky. The McD cups last an entire 2-week cruise, and at the end we just leave them. That's an important point if you have a flight in connection with your cruise.

The strange thing about the coffee--in my opinion--is that it does not seem to be of equal quality at all places on the ship.

 

Then at the breakfast buffet--one machine was clearly MUCH better than the other. Go figure.

 

And in the restaurants it was hit or miss--but never as good as the room service OR the good coffee at the buffet.

 

So my advice is to go about the ship and have some tastes--figure out where it is the best. Maybe it is psychological--at the outdoor buffet with the beautiful ocean there it just tastes better, OR room service FIRST SIP of the day just seems to taste the best. LOL Us coffee lovers!!

 

But this I know--on NCL they DO NOT use that syrup or liquid stuff. It is ground coffee. Now some of it may be bad ground coffee (any is bad that sits around for too long), but it is at least ground coffee.

I have noticed this too.

In the buffet, they, like most cruilelines, use those big thousand-cup-per-hour WMF machines. Too me, they are okay. However, some of those machinges brew the coffee differently than the others. These are the particular machines that used to make complimentary espresso/capucino drinks, (which NCL has since disabled). The tell-tale is that there is a sort of foam on top of the coffee when it is dispensed. These really taste better than the other machines.

Thanks to all. Now if I could only get an answer to my beer question that has been bumped to the second page. :(

Now when NCL offers a "beer card" for $29.00 inc. gratuities; sign me up !!

ie. 8 domestic beers for $29.00

Thanks for the continued feedback. I may go for that morning room service coffee to start the day!! :rolleyes:

Bob, Thanks for that information. I always thought maybe I was just a bit odd thinking one machine was so much better than the other!! LOL:)

Thanks so much everyone for posting all this information. I've been looking for coffee facts for quite a while. I assume most of this information will apply to the Star as well? This will all come in handy on our trip to Alaska!! It's going in my info file right now!!!

Thanks so much.

Happy cruising!

I assume most of this information will apply to the Star as well?

Yes, indeed, this is applicable to Star as well. Enjoy your cruise!

Great info in this thread! I just booked Epic for Western Caribbean on April 30. I am kind of spoiled when it comes to coffee - I gotta have coffee with real heavy cream. Half and half is OK. Will it be a problem to find real cream for my coffee? I will probably stick to ordering room service to start my day. Once I have a cup, I don't usually go back for 2nds.

What's better than heavy cream or half-n-half, it's condensed milk, especially with French-Vietnamese style drip coffee .... :D

What we've noticed on our recent NCL cruises is that they sometimes rather not asked whether you want coffee or tea with your dessert, or pretend that they forget - it could be just me thinking this way - as I need my "fix" even at dinner time. Otherwise, I canNOT get a good night sleep later - for real, I sleep better with a decent cup of coffee (and I will settle for the powedered one in a pouch that I take on road trips if I can't find a good brew.)

Anyway, it was nice to see those Expresso machine when we're on the POA but looked like we will have to settle for the plain cafeteria ones for the masses in the buffet and/or room sevice. We will pour it in our own bottle chilled in the mini frig. so that we can have iced coffee later in the day.

Question - are Jewel's coffee makers disappearing/removed from inside & oceanview cabins? Or, could we ask our room steward for one upon boarding - assuming they are stored or kept somewhere - I don't have a problem bring our own custom blend.

... Question - are Jewel's coffee makers disappearing/removed from inside & oceanview cabins? Or, could we ask our room steward for one upon boarding - assuming they are stored or kept somewhere - I don't have a problem bring our own custom blend.

Coffee makers were removed from oceanview and inside cabins on ALL NCL ships as of this past January.

You can ask your steward to bring one, but there might not be any available since they're not necessarily stored on the ship. There's probably a few extras though so it won't hurt to ask. Some people have had success in getting one for their lower level category cabin.

Mtb-

I am pretty sure that room service brought real cream. It is not heavy cream--light cream. I am not sure about the buffet--it could have been half and half.

Coffee makers were removed from oceanview and inside cabins on ALL NCL ships as of this past January.

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Tx, well - not the answer I was hoping for. But, we got a block of balcony & OV cabins, so maybe we will just move them around if necessary & make it work with the help of the room steward.

 

On the other hand, I got a mini coffeemaker travel kit (dual voltage) that's I sometimes take it on the road - maybe I will just pack it this time, and bring along some condensed milk & the stainless steel coffee drip to make my own aromatic Vietnames style expresso on ice - can't get that anywhere on any NCL/cruise ship anyway.

 

Besides, what's an extra 2 pounds in the checked luggage for the porter at the pier since we always tip them .... LOL It's a good thing not to be flying to a different cruiseport & worry about baggage weight & excess fees .... :cool: